Chocolate Layer Cake from Rose's

Baking Basics with Step by Step Photos

May 30, 2020

OUR BASIC CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE

BUTTER GLAZE FROSTING

This cake has a intense chocolate flavor with a soft and tender texture.
We enhanced The Cake Bible’s All-American Chocolate Cake with the
addition of canola oil to eliminate the dry after taste associated with
most chocolate butter cakes. For a frosting in between a dark chocolate
ganache and a dark chocolate egg buttercream, we adorned this cake
with the Dark Chocolate Butter Glaze from The Cake Bible (recipe and
photos will be Wednesday, June 3rd’s posting.) We will also be posting
videos on Weekly Baking Tips. At the bottom of this recipe are two
YouTube video links to Rose making this cake as a one-layer torte.

BAKING TIP: Plastic sheet protectors cut lengthwise are great for
protecting your book’s pages from chocolate stains.

Special Equipment Two 9 by 2 inch round (or 8 by 2 inch square)

pans, encircled with cake strips, bottoms coated with shortening, topped
with parchment rounds, then coated with baking spray with flour

BAKING TIP: Insulating the cake pan’s sides with cake strips helps to
make the cake uniform in texture. BAKING TIP: We use Bakers Joy
baking spray with flour because it does not add any after taste.

Preheat the Oven

* Twenty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack in the lower
third of the oven.
* Set the oven at 350˚F/175˚C.

Set Up for Ingredients (Mise en Place)

BAKING TIP: Mise en place is making sure that you have confirmed
you have enough the ingredients to make your baking/cooking project,
AND that you have read the recipe thoroughly and allotted for the
required time frames.

* 1 hour or longer ahead, in a 4 cup/1 liter glass measure with a spout,

whisk the cocoa and boiling water until smooth. Add the oil, cover with
plastic wrap, and cool to room temperature.

BAKING TIP: The oil will provide a moisture barrier to help prevent
evaporation.

* About 1 hour ahead, set the butter on the counter to soften at room
temperature (65˚ to 75˚F/19˚ to 23˚C).

* About thirty minutes ahead, into a 2 cup/473 ml glass measure with a

spout, weigh or measure the eggs. Whisk in the water and vanilla.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set on the counter.
BAKING TIP: Whole large eggs can easily be more than the standard
50 grams/1 large egg, usually with the excess being egg whites. Here,
Woody is removing the 12 grams excess of egg whites.

Plastic sheet protector covered pages

Make the Batter

1) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the flour,
sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed for 30 seconds.

2) Add the butter and chocolate mixture and holding the beater with
your hand, mash the butter and chocolate into the flour mixture so that
it doesn’t jump out of the mixer when beating.
BAKING TIP: We often use the stand mixer’s beater or whisk to begin
the mixing process, versus using another tool.
Then mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Cover
the top of the bowl with plastic wrap or use the splash shield. Raise the
speed to medium and beat for 1-1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of
the bowl with a silicone spatula.

BAKING TIP: To get all of the cocoa mixture out of its measuring cup,
Woody mixed in the egg mixture.

3) Starting on medium-low speed, gradually add the egg mixture in

three parts, beating on medium speed for 20 seconds after each addition
to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down
the sides of the bowl.

4) Finish the batter by folding the batter on the bottom of the bowl to
make the batter uniform in consistency.
BAKING TIP: We state a batter or dough’s finished weight on the
ingredient’s chart. This way you can check to see if your finished batter
or dough is not missing an ingredient. Woody also has charted the
weights for most of our equipment bowls and pans incase we forget to
tare out the bowl or pan’s weight.

5) Scrape the batter into the prepared pan(s) about half full (800 grams
each) and smooth the surfaces.
BAKING TIP: Tare out the weight from one of the cake pans.
Alternate spooning globs of batter into the cake pans. Finish with
adding enough batter to be half of the total batter’s weight to the pan
on the scale, and then the remaining batter into the other pan.

Bake the Cakes

6) Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (35 to 45 for the sheet cake), or until a
wire cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean.

Cool the Cakes

7) Let the cakes cool in the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes (15
minutes for the sheet cake). Run a metal spatula between the sides of
the pans and the cakes, pressing firmly against the pans, and invert the
cakes onto wire racks that have been lightly coated with nonstick
cooking spray. Peel off the parchment and reinvert onto wire racks.
Cool completely.
BAKING TIP: Reinverting the cake layers top-side up will give the
cakes supporting structure to retain their height and texture.

8) Frost the cake.

Since this cake was just for us two staying home-bound, we decided to
frost only one layer with the Dark Chocolate Butter Glaze. The second
layer, frozen for a future time.

6) Cakes in the oven

Store Airtight: room temperature, 3 days; refrigerated, 1 week; frozen,
3 months.

Baking Pearls
* Boiling water is needed to release the full flavor of the cocoa.

* Covering the steaming cocoa mixture with oil and then plastic wrap
will help to prevent evaporation.

* When composing the cake, set one layer, rounded side down on the
cardboard round or plate. Frost the top and slide the second layer,
rounded side up, on top.

* You can also make this as a 13 x 9 sheet cake with no adjustment to

the ingredients. We encourage to wrap the cake pan with wet paper
towels wrapped with aluminum foil strips. (see our Weekly Baking
Tips.) The baking times are 35 to 45 minutes.

ALL-AMERICAN CHOCOLATE TORTE PART 1

ALL-AMERICAN CHOCOLATE TORTE PART 2
Dark Chocolate Butter Glaze & Frosting
June 03, 2020

DARK CHOCOLATE BUTTER GLAZE & FROSTING AS A

FROSTING

Makes: 670 grams/2 cups/473 ml

This is our substitute for ganache when there is no cream in the house,
or when we do not have the several hours time frame for classic
ganache to reach frosting consistency. This recipe is in The Cake Bible.
I made this to frost our June’s Recipe of the Month: Chocolate Layer
Cake from Rose’s Baking Basics.
CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE RECIPE
Special Equipment One large flat bottom bowl; A pot that can serve as
a double boiler bottom for the bowl

BAKING TIP: We have matched up a few pairs of flat bottom bowls

and pots, and noted them on the recipes requiring them.

Mise en Place
* Thirty minutes to 1 hour ahead, cut the butter into tablespoon size
pieces. Set on the counter to soften.
 * Chop the chocolate into coarse pieces. Set it in the large flat bottom
bowl.

Make the Glaze/Frosting

1) Position the large flat bottom bowl over the top of the ‘double boiler’
pot set with hot, not simmering, water--do not let the bottom of the
bowl touch the water--stirring often) heat the chocolate until almost
completely melted.

2) Remove the chocolate from the heat source and, with a silicone
spatula, stir until fully melted.

3) Stir and smear the butter into the melted chocolate, 1 tablespoon at a
time, until blended. If the butter is not warm enough and does not
incorporate, return the bowl to the top of a double boiler and stir briefly
just until incorporated.

4) Heat the water to 120˚F/50˚C or use hot tap water.

5) Add the water all at once to the chocolate mixture. Stir and fold the
mixture until uniform in consistency.

6) Stir in the golden syrup and vanilla extract until uniform in color.

3all of the butter incorporated

Check for Consistency

7) Allow the glaze/frosting to cool, stirring occasionally, until a small
amount mounds on the surface when dropped from a spoon. If it does
not readily drop off from the spoon, add more hot water by the
tablespoon to thin the glaze/frosting.
For a frosting: the chocolate mixture should drop readily from the
spoon and remain mounded on the surface.
For a glaze: the chocolate mixture should drop readily from the spoon,
mound on the surface, and then smoothly disappear. It should be a
pourable consistency.

8) Apply the glaze/frosting.

For a frosting: apply as a frosting when the frosting’s temperature is
warm room temperature. (If the frosting appears to have butter specks,
press it through a medium-mesh strainer into a medium glass bowl and
scrape any mixture clinging to the underside into the bowl.)

For a glaze: transfer the glaze to a 2 cup/473 ml glass measure with a

spout. Apply while the glaze is lukewarm. Set the cake on a wire rack
placed on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Pour the glaze
through the strainer onto the center of the cake, allowing it to flow
down the sides. Smooth quickly and evenly with an offset spatula to
create a smooth, thin coating. Cover any unglazed spots with glaze from
the foil.

Once completely covered, refrigerate the cake for 20 minutes or until

the glaze is firm. Cover the remaining glaze with plastic wrap.

Apply a second coat of glaze after heating the glaze to lukewarm. Let
the cake set for at least 2 hours at room temperature for the glaze to
firm.

Store Airtight: cool room temperature, 3 days; refrigerated, 10 days;

frozen, 3 months.

FROSTED CHOCOLATE CAKE FROM ROSE’S BAKING BASICS

WITH PINOT NOIR WINE PAIRING

Baking Pearl
* The glaze/frosting will firm up in the refrigerator. We recommend
either cutting the cake to serving sizes and briefly heating in a
microwave until the frosting just begins to soften, OR setting the cake
on a doughmat or cutting board on the counter for the cake and frosting
to warm to room temperature.